dvar torah on parshat mishpatim by our bat mitzvah student from last shabbat Aimee

The word Mishpatim means ordinances or rules.  Mishpatim is the portion of the Torah that happens right after Moses was given the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai and it contains 53 of the 613 commandments found in the Torah.  Of course, everyone here is familiar with the very famous Ten Commandments. They even made a movie about it.  In Mishpatim, there are more than 5 times that many commandments but unfortunately NO dramatic display of thunder, lightning or fire that Hollywood portrayed in the Ten Commandments movie. 

 

Commandments are more than just laws governing people’s behaviour. They are actually “mitzvot” which is often defined as a “good deed” but really means “commandments” or rule.  These rules include a wide range of civil laws, ritual laws, financial laws, criminal laws, and family laws.  Some laws actually carried the death penalty.  Crimes like premeditated murder, kidnapping, practicing witchcraft, and offering sacrifices to idols.  Even cursing one’s father and mother was punishable by death!  Of course, I think that’s just a little extreme.  Parents should forgive and forget and then move on with their lives instead of dwelling on the past.  Seriously.

 

Mishpatim describes mitzvot for how we should observe certain Jewish festivals and holidays.  It’s why we only eat unleavened bread (matza) for 7 days during Passover and why we rest from work and light candles on Shabbat.  Other laws describe cases of personal injury or the treatment of strangers, widows and orphans.  There are also laws about loans and many laws regarding what is and is not kosher to eat.

A lot of the rules can be very hard to interpret.  For example, one rule says that we cannot boil a baby goat in its mother’s milk, but this rule has since evolved to tell us that we shouldn’t eat milk and meat together.

 

There is a lot of controversy about whether Jews should be allowed to get body piercings, and this comes directly from a rule stated in Mishpatim regarding the piercing of slaves by their master.  It says that a slave is to go free in his 7^th year of slavery.  But if a slave says that he does NOT wish to go free, if instead he wishes to stay with his wife, children and master, then his master shall take him before God and pierce his ear as a symbol of this choice.  Therefore, even today, Judaism frowns upon body piercings because we are not slaves.  On the other hand, I have my ears pierced and I am not a slave, so Jewish law needs to evolve and accept piercings, which it has.

 

Another rule in Mishpatim that I found especially fascinating is the one we all commonly know as “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”.  It basically says that if someone damages your eye, you can damage their eye.  However, now a days, we are taught in school that if someone hits you, you should not hit them back because it is a sign of immaturity, and it is better to talk it out without the use of violence.  We have become much more conscientious and socially aware.  The rabbis of the Talmud decided that you should pay back the equivalent worth of the eye that you damaged, but you should not actually damage their eye.  And then we get into this whole idea of what an eye is worth.

 

Interestingly, God does not explain to the Jewish people exactly WHY we have these specific rules set in place.  God says that we are expected to observe them all.  It is simply our faith in God that guides us in the right direction and helps us follow the rules he has given us.  I find this extremely relevant in MY life!  My parents do not tell me WHY I must make my bed everyday or clean my room (even if I am just going to mess it up again later), but I know that they MUST have a REALLY good reason that COMPLETELY outweighs my uncertainties.

 

An overall theme of Mishpatim is how we should treat other people.  The Torah was written in a time when slavery was common and when men had power over women, so it is good that there were rules to help protect the vulnerable.  Today, I believe that everyone, no matter what his or her circumstances deserves a fair shot at life and an equal chance in the world.  The laws set out in Mishpatim are more than a checklist of “rules”.  The mitzvot that we are commanded to follow in Mishpatim enhances our relationship with each other and also with God.  Mishpatim helps us think about ethics and what our values are. 

For example, for me, it highlights the message that God loves everyone equally no matter what challenges they might face in their life.  In fact, one of the main beliefs in Judaism is that each one of us was created “in God’s image” and therefore we are all worthy and equal.  Everyone regardless of gender, race, or physical ability have equal value in God’s eyes.

                   Aimee R.